Laura A. Johnston, PhD

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Overview

Academic Appointments

Professor of Genetics & Development

Laura Johnston is Professor of Genetics & Development at Columbia University Medical Center in New York, and uses Drosophila as a model system to study the dynamics of tissue growth and size control in development, during regeneration, and in models of cancer. Since establishing her lab in 2000, her studies have a had particular emphasis on the role of MYC in cooperative and competitive cell behavior. At CUMC, Laura is a member of the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Columbia Stem Cell Initiative. She serves on the Editorial Advisory Boards for the journals Development and Royal Society Open Science, and is a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Rita Allen Foundation. Laura is active in the greater scientific community and is a past President of the Drosophila Board of Directors, a national organization dedicated to promoting scholarly science in Drosophila research.

Credentials & Experience

Education & Training

PhD, Experimental Pathology, Univ of Washington Medical Center

Fellowship: 1996 Univ of Washington Medical Center

Fellowship: 1999 Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

Honors & Awards

1975 PLU/U.S. Oil and Refining Co. Chemistry Fellow

1995 Individual NRSA, NIGMS

1999 FHCRC Fellow

2000 HHMI Research Resources Award (CUMC)

2001 Scholar of the V Foundation for Cancer Research

2002 Hirschl Charitable Trust Award

2002 NY Speakers Fund in Biomedical Sciences Award

2003 Plenary Speaker, National Drosophila Research Conference (GSA)

2004 Rita Allen Scholar

2006 American Cancer Society Research Scholar Award

2006 Blaffer Lecture, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

2007 Harold and Golden Lamport Award for Excellence in Basic Science Research

Research

My laboratory investigates the mechanisms used by growing tissues to gauge and regulate the collective and individual fitness of cells, thereby optimizing tissue and animal fitness. We are interested in the basic biological mechanisms that regulate these processes, how they contribute to development of healthy tissues and in understanding their relevance to developmental and tumorigenic pathologies. We use the simple genetic model organism Drosophila and utilize strategies that allow manipulation of growth and cell fitness in living, growing animals. Our projects include: how the growth regulator Myc mediates competitive interactions during tissue and organ growth; investigation of homeostatic processes, including metabolism, that allow cells to sense and respond to growth changes in their local environment; identification of factors that act as sensors and mediators of cellular fitness; and genetic and molecular dissection of tissue regeneration. These processes provide plasticity to growing organs and give cells control over their local environment.